"Forbes" ranks Sammy Ofer as richest Israeli

Ten Israelis made the "Forbes" World's Billionaires list, with Arnon Milchen in second place.

Ten Israelis made the "Forbes" World's Billionaires list. Sammy Ofer, tied for no. 109th place on the list, is the richest Israeli, with a net worth of $6.5 billion. Arnon Milchen is in second place, with a fortune of $3.6 billion, followed by Stef Wertheimer with $3.5 billion, and Shari Arison, with $3.4 billion.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who held the title as the world's richest man for years, was passed by Mexican media tycoon Carlos Slim. With a fortune of $53.5 billion, Slim surpassed Gates, whose fortune is $53 billion. Warren Buffet is in third place, with a fortune of $47 billion.

97 new billionaires made the "Forbes" World Billionaires list this year, bringing the total to 937. Asians comprise two-thirds of the new additions, underscoring the region's meteoric economic rise, which has created fertile ground for the growth of billionaires in addition to the manufacture of goods.

463rd ranked Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG) controlling shareholder Yitzhak Tshuva has a fortune of $2.1 billion. Africa-Israel Investments Ltd. (TASE:AFIL; Pink Sheets:AFIVY) chairman Lev Leviev, the richest Israeli in 2007 following the IPO of AFI Development plc (LSE:AFID), is ranked 655th, with a fortune of $1.5 billion. Morris Kahn is the last Israeli on the list, with a fortune of $1 billion. Also on the list are Israeli hotelier Michael Federmann with a fortune of $1.4 billion and mining and real estate magnate Benny Steinmetz with a fortune of $2 billion.

The tenth Israeli on the list is Kazakhstan based Alexander Machkevich with a fortune of $3.3 billion. But although Machkevich has Israeli citizenship, he is rarely in Israel.

Mysteriously, Playtech owner Teddy Sagi, who has a fortune well over the $1 billion threshold which gets the wealthy into the Forbes rich list, has not been included in the rankings again.